


Friends in Strange Places

by PixeledPurple



Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Abandoned Bumblebee, Adoption, Bee is Really Scared, Blankets, Cuddling, Dark Stuff, Fluff, Gen, I Feel Like These Tags Make it Sound Worse Than it is, Mentions of Murder, Mentions of Unnamed Character Death, Minor Injuries, Newbuilds, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sleepy Bee, no promises, nothing really bad happens, sad stuff, yet at least
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:20:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25775749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PixeledPurple/pseuds/PixeledPurple
Summary: When Meister finds an intruder in his hideout, the hideout no one is supposed to be able to get into, he really has no choice.  He adopts him.
Comments: 16
Kudos: 68





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I just love the Meister as Jazz's alter ego thing.
> 
> Quick note, in this universe, bots come online in fully adult frames. They have basic knowledge, but they have caretakers who watch over them for the first -shrugs- like 100 years or so. Mentally they're like kids. It's usually super easy to tell who's a newbuild to other Cybertronians.

Meister looked up at the sudden sound as a canister clattered to the ground. He spotted a flash of yellow behind some crates. An intruder? Seriously? He gave a ping to his defense systems, all coming back online. How in the pit did someone get in here?

Silent as the night, he made his way through the shadows, not wanting to give away his position before he knew what the intruder was after. A thief? A spy? An assassin? He nearly laughed at that. He’d love to see someone try to kill him in his own place. Especially since no one knew this was his place. _No one_.

He came around the other side of the crates and spotted him. A yellow minibot. He wasn’t even trying to hide, seemed far more concerned about wiping the acid rain off his frame.

Meister watched him for a few moments before speaking, "How’d ya get in here?"

The minibot startled, he spun around, dropping his cleaning cloth and took a step back. "I’m sorry, I didn’t know anyone was already here."

"Didn’t answer my question."

"Hey we can share can’t we? It’s pouring out. I don’t take up much space. I promise I’ll be quiet. And I don’t need any of your fuel or anything. It’s a big warehouse right?"

Meister stepped out of the shadows and the yellow bot took another step back. He stepped on the same canister he had knocked over earlier and fell straight back on his aft. "Ow," he winced. "Look, I really don’t want any trouble, I promise-"

The minibot’s optics flared nearly white as he recognized Meister. Or, more accurately, deduced that he was Meister.

"Oh slag. Oh slag oh slag oh slag. I’m sorry. I didn’t know this was your place! I’m sorry! I was just trying to get out of the acid rain… I’m so sorry. Please don’t kill me. I can forget this place was even here. I promise, I won’t say anything."

Meister watched him carefully. The fear in his field was real, wild and unconfined. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t working for anyone. "'Fraid I can’t letcha go mech."

"No, no, no, no, no, no. Please! Please I didn’t see anything. I-I don’t even think I could find this place again if I tried."

He was definitely young. To young to be on his own. His caretakers where probably the ones who sent him. He’d have to find out who would entrust the care of a newbuild to someone who would use him like this. "Who are your caretakers mech?"

"I-" the fear in his field was coloured by sadness. Either the mech was the best actor he had ever met, or he had absolutely no control over his field. "They’re gone."

Meister took a step forward and the minibot scrambled backwards on the ground towards the wall, his panic returning in full force. "No, please!"

"Y’re too young to be on y’re own. Who’s watching over you?" _Who sent you_ , is what he really meant, but he had performed enough interrogations to know that would just lead to denials, not answers.

"I… no one," the fear in his field spiked again. "I- I’m alone. No one- no one’s coming for me."

Dispair.

Slag. Meister sighed. He couldn’t actually offline this mech. He was practically a newbuild. And the emotions in his field where just so raw, so real… "How long ya been alone kid?"

The minibot looked up at that. He pulled his legs in closer, making himself even smaller, "I-I don’t know, exactly. A few years."

"And y’re caretakers?"

A sharp spike of pain in his field at that. Meister felt bad asking, but he had to get some answers to figure out what to do with him. "Th-they where killed, the the train crash out-outside of Praxis."

That was nearly three years ago. Hundreds of mechs had lost their lives. Meister made a note to search the passenger manifests to corroborate his story.

"Please don’t kill me. I don’t want to join them in the Well. Not yet. Please." The minibot’s eyes were ridiculously bright, coolant streaming down his face. His field rotated between fear, sorrow, and exhaustion.

Meister sighed, "I ain’t gonna kill ya kid."

"You- you’re not?" a single strand of hope wove it’s way into his field as he glanced at the nearest door.

"I can’t letcha go either." And that hope was gone, replaced with shock, and resignation, something dark hidden underneath.

Meister had been around long enough to know what the kid was thinking. He would spare his life, but in return, he belonged to him. And horrible things happened to mechs who belonged to horrible bots. As far as pretty much everyone was concerned, he was as horrible as they came.

He wasn’t used to providing reassurance or giving any sort of comfort, but at the moment, he wished he had that particular skill. "What’s y’re name?"

The minibot flinched but didn’t respond.

Meister sighed again. Slag. "Look, kid, I’m not gonna hurt ya."

Still, no response, his field still the same uncontrolled mess of dread and despair.

"Ok, look, I got washracks in the back. Go wash the acid off y’re frame before it eats through the metal. Can ya do that?"

Finally the other looked up at him. He sat on the ground staring at him for what seemed like forever. Meister did his best to seem unthreatening. Not an easy task when he had altered every part of his frame to look as dangerous as he was.

Slowly, the minibot nodded. He stood up even slower, keeping his back pressed to the wall, as far away from Meister as possible. He flinched when he lifted an arm to point in the direction of the washracks, but started towards them obediently, walking backwards, never turning his back on Meister.

Meister waited for the door to slide shut before letting out another sigh, his whole frame slumping. What was he supposed to do now?

***

Meister sat in one of the chairs he had set up, staring at the door to the washracks. The minibot had been in there far longer than it would take him to rinse the acid from his frame, longer even than it would take to scrub what was probably 3 years of grime from even the hardest to reach seems.

There was no way out of that room, he was sure of that, no windows, no other doors, the walls were sturdy enough that nothing short of a pretty significant explosion or some hefty power tools would take them out, and both the drains and air vents throughout the whole building where designed so that not even a cassette could fit through them.

The mini was hiding from him. Not that Meister blamed him, if he was in the other’s place, he’d be terrified too. He had worked very hard to build that reputation for himself. The good news was, he had definitely been successful.

The truth was, he wasn’t particularly anxious to talk to the kid. Despite thinking about it for the last — he checked his chronometer — hour and a half, he still didn’t know what he was going to do with the mini. He couldn’t just trust him not to run off the second his back was turned. He sincerely doubted the other would consider attacking him, if he did, well, self defense would certainly give him an excuse to offline him.

That was when the door to the washracks opened. A yellow head poked out and Meister could see him visibly flinch when the other saw him staring at him. To his credit, he didn’t duck back into the washracks but started towards him. Albeit very, very slowly.

The kid had in fact, scrubbed down every inch of his frame. He was an even brighter shade of yellow than Meister had first thought. His paint was faded in places, and entirely scratched off in others. He had more than a few dents that were either too recent for his self repair to have taken care of, or, more likely, he hadn’t been fueling enough for it to try. The acid rain had left it’s mark in a few places, and as he came closer, Meister could spot older scaring with the distinct marks of melted paint and rust where the metal had started to erode.

"Slag kid."

The minibot flinched, stopping in his tracks.

Meister sighed, "I told ya, I ain’t gonna hurt ya." He couldn’t. Looking at him all cleaned up like this, he could be a day out of the Well if it weren’t for all the scarring. And slag but a youngling should never have to go through whatever this bot’s been through.

"Sit," he said, gesturing to the empty chair.

If it was possible, the minibot moved even slower. Meister waited patiently. As he came closer, he could feel the others field again, still spiking with fear and uncertainty. When he climbed into the chair, and yes, he did climb into it, Meister reached over, picking up a cube of energon and handed it to him. Or he tried to, but the minibot flinched back so hard he rocked the chair back, overcorrected, and ended up falling down off the side. Anyone else, it would have been hilarious, but this mech…

He bounced back up to his feet faster than the time it took Meister to decide wether it would do more harm than good to help him. So instead, he held the cube out again, slowly, "It’s just energon mech. You need to fuel."

Carefully, the minibot took the cube. He looked between it and Meister for a moment, then started drinking. He was careful not to spill, but he didn’t put it down once until he was finished. Meister again, waited patiently, just watching him.

When he was done, he clutched the cube in both hands, still standing next to the chair.

"Ya wanna sit down? Promise I won’t bite."

The minibot hesitated for a moment, then climbed back into the chair. He held the empty cube in his lap, still clutching it with both hands.

"So, ya ready to tell me your name?"

The other didn’t answer, just looked down at his cube. Meister suppressed a sigh. "Ok, ya don’t have to tell me then. Do you have anyone looking out for ya? I know your caretakers are gone, but, you find anyone since then? Three years is a long time to be on your own." Three years was a long time to not get picked up by a gang or even someone wanting to take advantage of an abandoned newbuild, was what went unsaid.

The minibot shook his head. "I’m small," he managed to squeak out, obviously getting what Meister was really asking.

"You’re also bright yellow. I imagine you stand out pretty well around here."

"I’m good at hiding."

"Ok," Meister debated that for a bit, but he doubted the kid was lying to him. He was terrified. And if anyone was looking out for him, he’d say so, if nothing else to hope to utilize whatever protection he had. "Why didn’t ya ever go to the authorities? They coulda set ya up with new caretakers. Better than livin’ on the street anyway."

"I- I did. It wasn’t."

Oh. Meister wasn’t about to pry. "Ok, lets make a deal." he waited for the mini to look up at him.

"Ya know where my hideout is."

"I won’t-"

Meister raised his hand to stop him, "I know, I know, you won’t tell anyone. Even if I believe ya, just knowing that puts ya in danger kid. I could list a dozen mechs who would pay a lotta shanix for that info. And a lotta others who would kill ya for it. But seein’ as you don’t have a place to stay, or anyone who’s gonna be lookin’ for ya," poor choice of words, Meister realized too late as the minibots field flared in fear again and his optics brightened. "How 'bout I let ya stay here?" he finished quickly.

"I ain’t gonna hurt ya. I ain’t gonna make ya do any slag ya don’t wanna do either. A younglin’ your age should be worryin’ about getting an education and having fun. Now worrying where you’re gonna go if the acid rain starts up again."

The mini stood there for a moment, seemingly processing what he had just said. "You, you would let me stay here?"

Meister nodded, what else was he gonna do? Even if he hacked the kids memory files and deleted all information about him, (not that he could do that to a newbuild. Primus, he wasn’t a monster) he couldn’t exactly send the kid back out on the streets. He may have been lucky so far, but it was just a matter of time before he got caught up in something he didn’t want to be a part of. He couldn’t exactly turn him over to the local enforcers either. Even if he thought he could trust them, with the price on his head, they’d _both_ be shot on sight.

"Now ya gotta earn your keep." Again, the mini’s field flared with concern. "Relax mech. You’re gonna be in charge of keepin’ the place tidy. Might send ya on an energon run once I know I can trust ya. And you’re gonna have to tell me _how_ ya got in here. But you’re gonna have to learn to control your field."

The concern in the mini’s field was replaced by a mix of embarrassment and sadness. "I don’t…"

"I’ll teach ya mech."

"You will?" his head snapped up at that, a trickle of hope in his field.

"Yea, why not?"

The minibot looked at him for a long time, "You are… I mean, everyone say’s you’re…"

Meister chuckled, "Unicron incarnate?"

He nodded.

"What can I say? My line of work requires I uphold a certain reputation. I promise I ain’t as bad as they say."

"But you… you kill mechs?" the youngling’s voice was barely loud enough for him to hear.

"On occasion," well, he wasn’t gonna lie to the kid. "But trust me, only do it when they deserve it."

The minibot’s field filled with concern, less urgent this time, but very much present. It was like being able to know exactly what the other was thinking.

"Mech, you ain’t done anything close to having to worry. 'Sides, I ain’t never hurt a newbuild. That’s a line I won’t cross. If ya wanna stay with me, I promise you’ll be safe." He phrased it intentionally, 'if', to give the mini an out. He didn’t really know what he’d do if he wanted to take it, but it was there.

The other looked at him for another long moment. He glanced down at his empty cube, then back up at him. "Bumblebee," he said finally, softly.

"What?" that threw him.

"My name. It’s Bumblebee…"

Ah, ok. Meister smiled, making sure not to show off his fangs. "Nice to meet you Bumblebee, I'm Meister."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so glad Bee finally gave him his name! Thinking of things Meister could refer to him as was getting old real fast. I have to be honest, I'm not sure when this will get updated, but I def wanna continue it... Comments and kudos always loved! <3


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say a thank you to all the lovely people who gave me so many kudos and beautiful comments. When I posted the first chapter, I really had no idea where to go next with this but all the love I got 100% motivated and inspired me. So thank you thank you thank you! <3

After another cube of energon, Meister asked Bumblebee to show him how he had gotten in. It turned out there was a leaky gutter that had caused acid rain to drip down and conveniently puddle behind a dumpster in an alley way. It must have been there for years to cause the kind of damage there was, and Meister silently cursed himself for not noticing it sooner. But the acid had caused corrosion until part of the wall had decayed away. As luck would have it, this happened to be the wall directly behind a large storage cabinet so he hadn’t noticed anything wrong from the inside.

The good news was, it had been a tight squeeze even for the small-for-his-frame-type minibot, so most mechs would have never been able to fit. Still, for a cassette it would have been easy.

Meister did a quick patch job, he would need to do extensive repairs to the wall and gutters, and remove the standing puddles of acid sooner rather than later. But that was something that could wait until at least the rain had stopped.

Bumblebee watched him doing the repairs, asking more than once if he could help. Primus help him Meister couldn’t help but think it was cute. He asked the kid to hold something or had him a tool now and again, and his field would just light up with joy.

Once he was done he washed the acid off his hands and looked at Bumblebee. "What do we do next?" the mini asked, almost excitedly.

Meister chuckled, he could keep his tone steady, but his field gave him away. He was being helpful. He was dry, and clean, and fueled, and nothing bad was happening to him and it was probably the happiest the kid had been since his caretakers deactivated.

"When’s the last time ya recharged kid?"

His field faltered a little at that, "Um, not that long. I’m not tired though."

"Like pit y’re not. Come on," he said, turning towards the room he used as a berthroom.

"No, really. I want to help more. I could clean something, or you can show me how to do the repairs to the gutters and I can start on that."

"It’s still raining Bee."

"I- That’s ok, I can still do it."

Meister frowned, looking down at the kid. That was apparently a mistake. He immediately shrank back, his field flaring with fear, regret, and… something. Meister cocked his head to the side. "Bumblebee," he tried to sound soothing. He had no idea if it was working, "I told ya I ain’t gonna hurt ya. Ya need to recharge. If ya haven’t had a safe place to do that, I doubt you’ve been getting enough rest." He didn’t know much about newbuilds, but he knew they needed to recharge more frequently.

Bumblebee nodded, his field relaxing only marginally. Meister wasn’t gonna pry. "Come on, I’ve got a real comfy berth. Y’re gonna love it."

The 'berthroom' had originally been an office of some kind. There were no windows, no outside vents, and no doors other than the main one. And of course the escape hatch Meister had installed just in case of emergency. It was the most secure room in the building.

And Meister liked to be comfortable. He had gone days without recharging, weeks without a roof over his head, months without a proper berth in the past. Even now, sometimes, his work kept him from the comforts of home. So when he was home, he liked to be comfortable. The berth was oversized, with double padding. Soft pillows and blankets where all piled up on top. What could he say, he liked to be comfortable, tidy, he didn’t care about as much.

"Alright, gimme just a minute," he said, walking over to the berth. He pulled the gun out from under the pillow and subspaced it. Then the knife. Then the weapons from behind the night stand, under the berth, between the padding, and in the drawer of the nightstand. Then he reached behind the headboard and took that one too. He thought about it for a minute, making sure he got everything in easy reach. "Should be all good. Just don’t go poking around in here, a’ight?"

Bumblebee was staring at him, optics wide when he turned around. "You… have a lot of weapons," he said, his voice small. It seemed the kid had forgotten who he was for a bit there.

"Hazards of the job Bee. Don’t worry, I ain’t gonna use any of 'em near ya."

Bumblebee nodded carefully.

"Well, ya need anything, lemme know, k? Like I said, don’t go pokin’ around, but the berth’s fine." Meister wasn’t really afraid of the kid trying to use any weapons he might find against him, but he did want to make sure he didn’t hurt himself with any of them.

He let the door close about half way before going out to the living area. He put the chairs he had set up for his conversation with Bumblebee back, cleaned up his tool kit, double checked the locks and security systems, and grabbed a cube for himself. Then he went over to the small nook he had with a couch, table and vid screen. It was almost like a normal home. He liked it, had a certain novelty to it.

He rarely used the vid screen. He’d watch the news if there was something that interested him, or more specifically, something he intended to do something about. Instead, he picked up the datapad he had been studying when he had been so noisily and unexpectedly interrupted earlier that evening.

It was plans for a high rise in downtown. The noble who had recently moved in was making far too big of a fuss for Meister’s tastes. He figured that emptying out his floor — that’s right, he had a whole floor — would be a good warning. And for the creds he made selling the stuff on the black market, maybe he could get a new paint job for Bee. Or maybe he should sell the stuff back to the noble. That was always a good one. More often than not, they would take the bait. It saved them the embarrassment of a public investigation, and all their noble friends learning they where now that much poorer. It was riskier, but Meister could usually make two or three times the creds he would on the black market.

"Meister, sir?"

Meister turned, Bumblebee was peaking out from the berthroom, looking like he half expected to get shot for interrupting him.

"I ain’t gonna hurt ya Bee," Meister said — again. Keeping his tone as steady and reassuring as he could. Was the kid really this paranoid or was he just that bad at this? "What can I do for ya?"

"I… I can’t recharge."

Meister frowned, "What’s wrong? Are you injured?" That hadn’t occurred to him. He hadn’t mentioned anything hurting.

Bumblebee shook his head. "I just… can I stay out here with you?"

Well that was a first. Someone _wanted_ to be around him? Especially this kid who seemed to be terrified of him? That made absolutely no sense. Meister’s defenses pinged him to activate. If it didn’t make sense, that probably mean that something was wrong. And if something was wrong, well, let’s just say he hadn’t stayed alive this long by ignoring things that didn’t make sense.

Meister looked at the kid and shook his head. Slag. "Yeah, if ya want."

Bumblebee immediately perked up and bounded over to the nook. There was no way this kid was a threat. He was carrying one of Meister’s blankets with him, Meister guessed he must have been cold. Maybe that was it. The vent system was different in the berthroom, maybe it was too cold for him.

He was about to tell him where to find another chair when Bumblebee hopped up on the couch, right next to Meister. He apparently couldn’t hide his surprise at that, because after just a moment, Bee’s excessively happy and enthusiastic field took on a feeling that distinctly said, 'oops, I did something wrong.'

Field control lessons. First thing. Before anyone else could run into him and take advantage of that ridiculous openness. Pit how had he survived this long??

Meister made a conscious effort to relax and smiled. "Cold?" he asked, gesturing to the blanket.

"Oh, I- I can put it back, if you want."

"Nah, it’s fine kid."

It was a little awkward, but Meister shrugged it off and went back to his datapad. After a few minutes, he noticed Bumblebee had scooted closer. His field rippled softly with curiosity. "What are you reading?" he asked tentatively.

Meister hesitated, well, he knew telling the kid about his plans to burglarize a noble was a bad idea. "Work stuff," he said simply.

Bumblebee apparently drew his own conclusions as to what that meant and shrank back a little, "Oh."

Meister suppressed a sight, he really couldn’t have this newbuild running around his place terrified of him. He would spend more time reassuring the kid he wasn’t gonna hurt him than he would getting anything done. "Boring stuff, honestly," he said casually, clicking the pad off. "Do you wanna watch a vid or somethin’?"

Bumblebee’s optics brightened at that and his field bloomed with excitement. Primus, had the kid even even seen a vid screen before? Meister wondered as Bee nodded excitedly.

"A’ight, well, let’s see what’s on," Meister tossed the datapad onto the table and picked up the remote. He couldn’t help but notice the look Bumblebee gave it, like he was expecting it to be filled with detailed murder plots and pictures of grayed out frames. Something light then, maybe a comedy, he decided as he flipped through the on-screen guide. Something appropriate for a newbuild, he reminded himself. He had no idea what that was.

"Anything particular ya like?"

Bumblebee shook his head, staring wide eyed at the screen. After a few minutes of scrolling, Bee’s field sparked in excitement.

"See something you like?"

Embarrassment. "Um, no. I mean, yes, The Glitchmouse. It was my favourite movie. But, I mean you probably wouldn’t like it, sorry."

"Hey, y’never know. I like alotta things," Meister said, putting on The Glitchmouse. Bumblebee was right, he didn’t like it. It was a digital animation of a characterized glitchmouse and the adventures it had when it decided to go all around Cybertron. But Bumblebee seemed to love it, so Meister tolerated it.

About halfway through the movie, he startled when Bumblebee suddenly rested his head on his shoulder. He looked down, the minibot was curled up on the couch, everything but his head tucked in under the blanket. He was entirely transfixed by the move, a soft smile on his face. His field was, probably for the first time since Meister had met him, calm.

Another half hour, and the little head on his shoulder drooped, falling to his bumper. Meister struggled not to laugh at that. He tried to push the minibot off him, so that he could cary him back to the berth, but a little black and yellow hand _shot_ out from under the blanket and grabbed him.

It took every ounce of higher reasoning Meister had to not pull out his knife and slice the kid’s hand off, but he managed it. Bumblebee, completely unaware of the danger he was in, and apparently deep in recharge, shifted slightly, keeping a firm grip on Meister’s wrist.

Ok then. Meister cycled down his battle protocols, and slowly moved just enough to be able to lower the kids head into his lap. Bumblebee murmured something softly in recharge but rouse.

Meister glanced at his datapad that was well out of reach and sighed. Well, it was gonna be a long night then, he though, as Glitchy the glitchmouse learned about the joys of flying while visiting Vos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is exactly 2000 words long, which I find to be an impressive feat. Not cuz of the length but 2000. How often does that happen? As always, comments and kudos are always loved!


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